Electrical wrench

ABSTRACT

AN ELECTRICAL WRENCH FOR TIGHTENING NUTS, HAVING PERIPHERAL RIBS, WITHIN A SWITCH BOX. THE WRENCH IS ADAPTED TO FIT WITHIN THE SWITCH BOD AND HAS A LEVER ACTUATED PAWL FOR ENGAGING THE RIBS OF THE NUT. A RATCHET-LIKE MOTION WITHIN A LIMITED ARC WILL CAUSE THE PAWL TO ALTERNATELY CONTACT THE RIBS AND THEREBY CAUSE THE NUT TO BE TIGHTENED. AN INTERCHANGEABLE SOCKET IS UTILIZED TO POSITION THE WRENCH AND THE PAWL RELATIVE TO THE NUT.

March 2, 1971 V. H. J. WILSON ELECTRICAL WRENCH Filed March 17, 1969FIG. 2

INVLI iTOR.

HAROLD J. WILSON Ill/Ill/AI/ United States Patent 3,566,511 ELECTRICALWRENCH Harold J. Wilson, 14-10 141st St., Whitestone, N.Y. 11357 FiledMar. 17, 1969, Ser. No. 818,164 Int. Cl. 1525b 7/04, 7/12 US. Cl. 29-42811 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical Wrench for tighteningnuts, having peripheral ribs, within a switch box. The wrench is adaptedto fit within the switch box and has a lever actuated pawl for engagingthe ribs of the nut. A ratchet-like motion within a limited arc willcause the pawl to alternately contact the ribs and thereby cause the nutto be tightened. An interchanegable socket is utilized to position thewrench and the pawl relative to the nut.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In connection with the installation ofelectrical wiring in buildings, it customary to embed in the walls andceilings metal conduits which contain the electrical wires, and toinstall at intervals throughout the length of the metal conduit, outletsin the form of metal switch boxes which are enclosed by walls, havingsmall openings, on all sides except one through which access is had tothe switch and which is usually placed flush with the surface of thewall. The metal conduit enters the switch box through one end and isconnected with the switch box by two nuts screwed on the metal conduitand engaging opposite sides of the opening in the switch box wallthrough which the conduit is projected. The nuts that are usuallyemployed on the interior of the box are formed of an annular rim havingperipheral ribs projecting outwardly therefrom, which ribs may beconveniently grasped by an electricians hand or by a pair of pliers.However, the space within the switch box in which these nuts must beplaced is extremely limited and it is very diflicult to tighten the nutdown upon the metal conduit after it has been loosely positioned orstarted thereon by hand. Quite often, since a pair of pliers cannot beinserted and used Within the limited space of the switch box, a screwdriver is placed against the peripheral ribs of the nut and a hammer isused to tap the nut around to a tightened position. This operation isobviously time consuming and dangerous from the standpoint of damagingboth the nut and the threads of the metal conduit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION After the nut has been started on the metalconduit by hand, the electrical wrench described hereinafter is placedwithin the switch box and positively positioned within the open end ofthe metal conduit and adjacent the periphery of the nut. The operator bysimply manipulating an operating lever pivoted to the wrench will causea pawl to engage the outwardly extending ribs of the nut and a ratchetlike action will cause the nut to be tightened down on the metal conduitupon reciprocal movement of the handle in a limited arc. The electricalwrench is adapted to positively position itself with regard to aplurality of different diameter conduits and nuts and is of simple,durable and inexpensive construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating the electrical wrench;

FIG. 2 is a cut away view along line 2-2 when the wrench is in itsfolded position;

3,566,511 Patented Mar. 2, 1971 FIG. 3 is a partial cut away view of thewrench in operation; and

FIG. 4 is a view along line 44.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingswherein like numbers designate like or corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 an electrical wrench 10having a handle 11. The handle 11 while shown as being constructed froma channel member which provides light weight and sufiicient rigidity andstrength to tighten electrical nuts can also be made from solid stock ofany cross sectional configuration.

Disposed on one end of the handle 11 and projecting substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom is a shaft 12. The shaft 12 is adapted to fitwithin the open end of an electrical conduit during utilization of theelectrical Wrench 10 and is additionally adapted to receive a removablesocket means 13. Positioned adjacent the free end of the shaft 12 is acatch 14 which is adapted to allow the socket means 13 to be removablypositioned about the shaft 12 while preventing the socket means 13 fromfalling off until released by an operator. In FIG. 1 the catch 14 isillustrated as a simple ball, however it will be obvious to one skilledin the art that a number of other catches can be utilized.

Extending outwardly from the handle 11 co-planar and adjacent to theshaft 12 is a guide means 16. The guide means comprises a member 17having a channel 18. The channel 18 extends through the member 17parallel to the handle 11 and perpendicular to the shaft 12.

Disposed intermediate the ends of the handle 11 and pivotally securedthereto at a point behind the guide means 16 is an operating lever 19.The operating lever 19 is of a substantially L-shaped configuration,having a bifurcated base portion 20. One branch of the bifurcated baseportion is disposed on each side of the handle 11 in sandwichingjuxtaposition thereto. The longer, or leg, portion of the lever 19 isconstructed from a channel section having a width slightly greater thanthe width of the handle 11. The lever 19 is pivotally secured to thehandle 11 by a fastener 21 which extends through both branches of thebifurcated base portion 20 and the handle 11.

As shown in FIG. 2 a spring means 22 is positioned between the lever 19and the handle 11 and held in its correct orientation by the fastener21. The spring means 22 holds the lever 19 in a normally open positionwherein the lever 19 extends upwardly and outwardly from the handle 11at an acute angle thereto as-illustrated in FIG. 1.

Slidably mounted within the channel 18 of the guide means 16 is a pawlrod 23. The pawl rod 23 extends through the chanel 18 and outwardlybetween the lower edges of the bifurcated base portion 20 to which it ispivotally secured by another fastener 15 which extends through bothbranches of the base portion 20 and the pawl rod 23. When securedbetween the base portion 20 and disposed within the channel 18 of theguide means 16, the pawl rod 23 is substantially parallel to the handle11. The pawl rod 23 has a cross section complementary to the crosssection of the channel 18 in order to permit reciprocal sliding actiontherethrough and has a notch 24 on one end adjacent the shaft 12 forengaging the peripheral ribs of a nut 25 during operation.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3 which illustrate the socket means 13 ingreater detail it will be noted that the socket means 13 consists of aninner tubular member 26 and an outer tubular member 27 fixed to theinner tubular member along its upper end and disposed in coaxialcomplementary, spaced juxtaposition thereto. The inner tubular member 26has an inner diameter complementary to the shaft 12 in order that thesocket means 13 can be positioned upon the shaft 12 where it is held inplace by the catch 14. The inner tubular member 26 is adapted to fitwithin the opening in the metal conduit and the nut 25 and the loweredge of the outer tubular member 27 is adapted to rest upon the uppersurface of the nut 25.

It will be noted that the length of the outer tubular member 27 shouldbe as long as possible while still terminating adjacent the notch 24 ofthe pawl rod 23. This is desirable in order to ensure that the loweredge of the outer tubular member 27 will remain in contact with theupper surface of the nut 25 during the entire tightening down operationor in other words during the entire period that it is necessary for thepawl rod 23 to engage the peripheral ribs of the nut 25. The actualdiameters of the outer and inner tubular members of the socket means 13is dependent upon the inner diameter of the metal conduit and the outerdiameter of the nut to be tightened. By varying the dimensions of thesocket means 13 nuts of different sizes can be accommodated.

The socket means 13 can alternately 'be constructed of a single tubularmember having a stepped inner diameter, the smaller inner diameter beingcomplementary to the diameter of the shaft 12. When the alternate socketmeans is utilized the shaft 12 in effect replaces the inner tubularmember 26 and the larger inner diameter of the stepped tubular member isdisposed in coaxial spaced relationship to the shaft.

The space between the inner and outer tubular members 26 and 27respectively is necessary in order to allow the metal conduit to slideup between the tubular members as the nut 25 is tightened down. Theability of the socket means 13 to accommodate the metal conduit isimportant because it allows the outer tubular member 27 to remain incontact with the upper surface of the nut 25 at all times until the nutis completely tightened down thereby providing a constant guide for thepawl rod 23.

When the electrical wrench is not in use the lever 19 can be pivotedabout the fastener 21 to a folded position wherein the handle 11 issandwiched between the channel construction of the leg portion of thelever 19. When the lever is in its folded position a stop 28 can beactuated to prevent the lever 19 from springing open until the operatoris ready to use the wrench. The stop 28 as illustrated consists of aninverted L-shaped member slidably secured to the handle 11 by thefastener 21. When it is desired to lock the lever 19 in its foldedposition the lever is pivoted downwardly about the fastener 21 so thatthere is a gap between the attached end of the lever and the top of thehandle 11 and the stop 28 is moved into the gap as ilillustrated in FIG.2. When it is desired to use the wrench the stop 27 is moved out of thegap and the lever 19 is urged outwardly to its open position by theaction of the spring means 22.

In operation, the stop 28 is released allowing the spring means 22 tourge the operating lever 19 to its outward or open position. The nut 25is hand threaded upon the metal conduit and the correct size socketmeans 13 is slipped over the shaft 12 where the catch 14 holds it inposition. The inner tubular member 26 of the socket means 13 is insertedwithin the metal conduit until the lower edge of the outer tubularmember 27 rests upon the upper surface of the nut 25 at which time theupper end of the metal conduit is disposed in the space between theinner and outer tubular members 26 and 27. The operator squeezes theoperating lever 19 downwardly causing the bifurcated base portion 20 ofthe lever 19 to pivot about the fastener 21. The pivoting of the baseportion 20 in turn causes the pawl rod 23 to slide forward through thechannel 18 in the guide means 16 until the notched end of the rodengages the peripheral ribs of the nut 25. When the pawl rod 23 is inengagement with the nut 25 the wrench is rotated in an arc which islimited by the dimensions of the switch box, thereby causing the nut torotate in conjunction therewith. When the wrench can no longer berotated the operator releases the operating level 19 thereby allowingthe spring means 22 to cause the disen- 4 gagement of the pawl rod fromthe nut. The wrench is then rotated in a reverse direction and theoperation is repeated until the nut is tightened down upon the metalconduit. As the nut is tightened down upon the metal conduit, the metalconduit moves up within the space between the inner and outer tubularmembers.

I claim:

1. An electrical wrench for tightening nuts having peripheral ribs, saidwrench comprising:

a handle having a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly from oneend thereof;

an operating lever pivotally secured to said handle intermediate itsends;

a pawl rod pivotally secured to said operating lever and adapted to moveinto substantially perpendicular juxtaposition to said shaft when saidlever is manipulated; and

a socket means mounted on said shaft and adapted to position said wrenchrelative to the nut whereby said pawl rod will engage the ribs of thenut when said pawl rod is moved into juxtaposition to said shaft.

2. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 further comprising aspring means disposed in cooperating relationship to said handle andsaid operating lever, said spring means adapted to bias said lever awayfrom said handle.

3. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 further comprising aguide means secured to said handle, coplanar and adjacent to said shaft,said guide means adapted to receive said pawl rod and guide said pawlrod to a substantially perpendicular relationship to said shaft whensaid pawl rod is moved into juxtaposition thereto.

4. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 wherein said socketmeans comprises:

an inner tubular member; and

an outer tubular member secured to said inner tubular member along itsupper end and disposed in coaxial, complementary, spaced juxtapositionthereto.

5. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 4 wherein said outertubular member terminates adjacent said pawl rod.

6. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 further comprising astop secured to said handle and adapted to be inserted between saidlever and said handle when said lever is moved to a folded positionadjacent said handle, whereby said lever is secured against movementuntil said stop is released.

7. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 further comprising acatch disposed on said shaft and adapted to releasably support saidsocket means thereon.

8. An electrical wrench in accordance 'with claim 1 wherein said socketmeans comprises a tubular member having a stepped inner diameter, thesmaller inner diameter adapted to engage said shaft and thereby positionthe larger inner diameter of said tubular member in coaxial,complementary, spaced relationship to said shaft.

9. An electrical wrench in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidoperating lever is of a substantially L-shaped construction and ispivotally secured to said handle by a bifurcated base portion, said pawlrod being secured to the free end of the base portion and said springmeans is disposed between the leg of the lever and the handle, saidspring means biasing said leg of said lever away from said handle and atan acute angle thereto.

10. An electrical wrench for tightening nuts having peripheral ribs,said wrench comprising:

a handle having a shaft extending substantially perpendicular from oneend thereof;

a guide means secured to said handle coplanar and adjacent to saidshaft, said guide means having a channel therein perpendicular to saidshaft;

an operating lever pivotally secured to said handle intermediate itsends;

a spring means disposed between said handle and said lever and adaptedto bias said lever away from said member abuts the upper surface of saidnut and a handle; portion of said conduit is disposed internally of saida pawl rod pivotally secured to said lever and adapted tubular member;

to slide through the channel in said guide means, moving a pawl rod,cooperatively secured to said whereby said pawl rod is moved intojuxtaposition 5 Wrench, into contact with the peripheral ribs of said tosaid shaft when operating lever is manipulated to nut; and overcome thebiasing of said spring means; and rotating said Wrench, whereby saidpawl rod and said a socket means mounted on said shaft, said socket nutrotates with said Wrench.

means having an outer tubular member adapted to rest upon the uppersurface of the nut and thereby 10 References Cited position said Wrenchrelative to the nut whereby said UNITED STATES PATENTS pawl rod willengage the ribs of the nut when said pawl rod is moved intojuxtaposition to said shaft. gg 11. A method of tightening nuts havingperipheral ribs 2 692522 10/1954 R egaar 5 on a conduit with anelectrical wrench comprising the 15 eyner 8 3 6 steps JAMES L. JONES,111., Primary Examiner positioning said nut on said condult; placing atubular member, secured to said wrench, over 15- X-R- said conduit untilthe lower edge of said tubular 8 6

